Toni and Chito’s 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration went very well. Karen, Kristen, Kelly, Shawn and Apollo sang beautifully, as well as the whole Filipino Choir of St. Gerard. (May 24)

I saw “A Mighty Wind” at the Pacific Theaters in Sherman Oaks with Steve Kronauer and his friend Nik. That was a good movie!

Last Sunday, I competed for the AIFA (American Institute of Fine Arts) Vocal Competition. I was a finalist. The winners were Christina Borigoli (1st), Nazani Ashjian (2nd) and Annie Chon (3rd). As for my performance, I sang three arias. I started with “Here I Stand.” I sang the piece perfectly. By the second and the third aria, I felt my voice tightening up. I realized that I warmed up too early during the day, and resting for 3 hours without singing out fully proved to be a disadvantage to my performance. My first note in “O Colombina” was not as beautiful as expected, and I had too much “spinto” quality on “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz.” Even though I had “bravos” from the audience, the judges was still able to see through my mistakes. One thing I’ve learned from this competition is to “fully” warm up (sing out) 1 hour to 30 minutes before the actual competition or audition.

Anxious to know how the Orlando Opera Audition is going to turn out… will keep you informed.